


Smoke and Mirrors

by serpico



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Emetophobia, F/M, Off-screen Character Death, Yandere, no actual gore in this one, no ship tags cause i dont wanna disappoint anyone and also dont want to spoil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-13
Updated: 2016-09-13
Packaged: 2018-08-14 19:59:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8026969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serpico/pseuds/serpico
Summary: Yuuya isn't the only one who knows how to perform.





	Smoke and Mirrors

Dizziness. A dull, yet tingling pain coursing through her body. Vertigo, perhaps. Yuzu felt all of these things in a single moment as she attempted to find her bearings and shake off the grogginess that came with waking up after a supposedly long while.   
  
What exactly had happened? The last thing she could recall was her duel against Sergey, her life points reached 0, and... well, after that, everything was pretty much a blur. She remembered the feeling of being thrown off track, and maybe hitting something, but that was it. More importantly- where was she right now?   
  
If there was any light, it was dim, and was only filtered through the shutters against the window above. It would certainly take a bit of time to get used to. To her back was a slightly firm, but plushy and comfortable mattress, so she could infer she was lying down on a bed. The air was a little stuffy, and it didn't have the best smell in the world, but it wasn't terrible; sawdust tickled her nose a little, but otherwise, it was manageable. Whoever owned this establishment probably didn't take good care of it.   
  
When she attempted to sit up and move her arms, she found that she could not manage much beyond lifting her head and barely her shoulders. Something tugged at her wrists, pressed tightly against them and almost chafing the skin. For a moment, she froze, and tried again, finding that the feeling didn't go away. Something was _definitely_ holding her back.   
  
She angled her head towards one of her arms and dread sank down and pooled in the pit of her stomach. Her wrists were bound to the bedpost with formidable-looking rope. It didn't look like it would be easy to break through, especially when she didn't have anything sharp on her, but that didn't mean she wasn't about to try. If she could at least sever one of the ties, she was already on the road to escape.   
  
Naturally, she began to struggle against the ropes, gritting her teeth harder as pain now began to accumulate in her wrists. This was most definitely rope burn. Wearing gloves alleviated the pain somewhat, but even then it did little to stop the chafing. Tugging harder only caused more hurt, but she really, REALLY needed to leave. There was no doubt that she was in enemy hands, and she wasn't going to sit around and wait for someone to come get her.   
  
"Yuzu."   
  
Her eyes snapped open upon hearing the voice. This was one she could recognize easily; she'd heard it since childhood, after all. Naturally, her hopes soared. Turning this way and that, she attempted to find the person who spoke, but could barely register anything in the darkness of the room. She could only get up so far to look around, and the lack of light in the room made the corners seem as if they were swallowed up by pitch, the darkness leering.   
  
Footsteps resounded against the walls of the small, dirty room. The sound of crackling wood underneath shoes reached her ears. He had shown himself, practically, but there were parts of him still shrouded in darkness. Most importantly, his face. She knew, though, that it was him, and tears pricked at her eyes, threatening to spill. She didn't want to cry at a time like this- but if he couldn't see it through the dark, it was okay, right?   
  
"Yuuya...!" She choked, struggling once again despite the searing pain of her earlier attempt. A crooked smile found its way onto her features as she tried to get a good look at him. He walked towards her, features still clouded in darkness. She could barely contain her happiness, it's been so long since they saw each other, and now he's here to rescue her and they can go back home together. It didn't even matter that he seemed much thinner than before, or that his clothes were baggy and bloodstained--   
  
What...? Yuzu regained her composure to look at him again. There was an unmistakable, copious amount of blood on his clothing. While his orange shirt was usually tight around him, it seemed to just be hanging off his body. His jacket covered much more of his broad shoulders, which now seemed rather small underneath. And his face, his face, **she still couldn't see his face...!**   
  
It was far too late for that realization to be put to any good use now. The smell of death hit her nostrils as he drew closer, creeping down her throat and invading her lungs. Again her eyes welled up, not due to emotion, but simply because the scent was so putrid, so disgusting, it felt as though it were churning up her insides and trying to make her sick. He was standing right next to her, leaning over so she was staring him right in the face, and the darkness covered his features no more…

 

She noticed more discrepancies now that his features became clear. Yuuya’s eyes were an emerald green, not the deep red they usually were. His face was much rounder, especially the area around his cheeks, and the shape of his eyes were different. His hair, most of all, seemed unkempt, and the way the light shone on it made it seem more than a little suspicious. Considering everything about this situation, there was a growing doubt in her mind that seemed more realistic with every fact that popped up.

 

The boy before her raised his arm, switched off some sort of contraption inside of his ear, and grinned at her. Her face was pale now, and once again she tried to break free, but her restraints wouldn’t give and she was sure she would succumb to the pain any moment now. He only watched her struggle curiously, as though he were wondering why she was putting up such a fight when there was no way she was going to be set free. He said nothing else otherwise as her thrashing grew weaker with each passing moment until finally, she grew limp and gave up, breathing heavily as silent, hot tears rolled down her cheeks. And he spoke.

 

“Yuzu… are you done?"

 

His voice was different from before- brighter, more high-pitched. Although she hated to admit it, the intonation of his voice rang a bell in her mind, although she was much too panic-stricken to even consider who it might have belonged to. She wasn’t sound enough to be playing detective when her life was very likely in danger. Yuzu knew that he asked her a question, but whether it was rhetorical or not, she wasn’t sure. She chose not to answer- it seemed as though he were waiting for one, as he remained silent for a moment, but he soon spoke up again.

 

“You really don’t know who I am?”

 

It seemed like he wanted an answer this time. When she opened her mouth to speak, she found that she could not; her throat was much too constricted for her to get an actual answer out, so she just settled on shaking her head.

 

“...Hm. I see.”

 

The boy before her straightened himself up a little, but not so much that his face was shrouded in darkness again- no, clearly he wanted her to see, and revel in the realization.

 

He brought his arm up, grabbed a fistful of his hair, and pulled it off slowly, almost suspensefully. It was as though he was shedding it- but really, truly, the sad and pitiful green-red clump of hair that was now clenched in his fist was nothing more than a wig that was haphazardly thrown together. She looked back up at his face, eyes widening. Before her… Before her, there stood…

 

There stood the form of Sora Shiunin wearing Yuuya’s bloodstained clothing.

 

Immediately, Yuzu felt her stomach contract, her blood freeze and her skin burn. No… no way. This had to be a nightmare. She was just sleeping or in a coma or something. There was no way this could be reality. Again, her stomach contracted, her heart pounding in her chest, and her mouth twisted open…

 

The room was silent except for her retching, coughing and gasping. It echoed off the walls as though mocking her for reacting this way, for being so disgusted at the implications. Her gasping eventually slowed down until she was breathing somewhat normally, and she turned her head away from the mess so that the smell wouldn’t be so pungent, so that she could pretend it wasn’t there. He didn’t even bother to help- he just stared like it was interesting. Like she was some sort of specimen. The thought made her stomach churn again, and her face twisted in disgust.

 

“I had you fooled for a while there, huh? You looked really happy to see Yuuya… how come it’s him you want to see and not me? Should I put the wig back on again? Maybe I should have gotten some contacts…”

 

“S-Sora… _why_ …”

 

He seemed confused by the question, but then realized what she must have been referring to. “Why? You were in danger. Think about it- if I hadn’t found you, Security would, and who knows what could’ve happened? You’re safe with me, I promise! I won’t let anyone hurt you…”

 

“I didn’t mean that,” she cut in, voice dry and weak. “What did you do with Yuuya? Why are you wearing his clothes? Why are they all… messy?”

 

“He met up with me after his duel,” Sora said simply, taking the jacket off his shoulders and inspecting the bloodied material. “He really, really wanted to know if you were okay. Like… really badly! So I kinda got annoyed with him, and…” He looked back up at her and shrugged. “We had a falling out. That’s all. It’s okay, though, he isn’t gonna bother you anymore!”

 

“...You killed him.”

 

“That’s another way to put it.”

 

Again, Yuzu felt disgust and an urge to vomit, but most of all, she felt despair- she wasn’t even allowed to see him in his dying moments. Why? There was no reason for him to die, he was so young, they were best friends… She let herself cry openly this time; trying to hide her sorrow would take up too much energy, and she’d used up enough trying to break free. She simply lay back on the bed, defeated, as she sobbed into the pillow.

 

Sora frowned, feeling only a little guilty. If he knew she was going to react this way, he would’ve just knocked him out and let him live a little longer. He sighed and got onto the bed, wrapping his arms around her waist.

 

“It’s okay,” he said softly, planting a kiss on her dampened cheek. “I’m here, okay? I love you, Yuzu. I love you so much. No one else will hurt you as long as I’m here…”

 

As she was quite literally tied up, there wasn’t much she could do to shake him off, but she tried to lean away from his kiss as much as she possibly could. His warmth did nothing to comfort her, and he just felt cold, heartless, nothing like the same Sora she bonded with back in the Standard dimension.

 

It took a lot of effort, but after shedding so many tears, she finally mustered the strength to speak. “Please let me go.”

 

“Why would I do that?”

 

Yuzu took a deep breath. “I’m… I’m not happy like this.”

 

Sora sat up and looked down at her, grin plastered on his face. “This is only a temporary spot that I found for us to hide in the meantime,” he stated, as though it were something to be proud of. “When it’s safe, I’ll find a good place for us.” He entwined his fingers with her own, gripping her hand tightly to make up for her lack of action. “Just you and me. No one else will bother us. I’ll get rid of anyone who tries… okay?”

 

She didn’t respond.

 

“I love you.”


End file.
